John D’Angelo, MD, officially takes the reins as the new Chief Executive Officer of Northwell Health on October 1st, stepping into a role that he professes he never actively chased, but one that his career trajectory and long-standing dedication to operational excellence ultimately led him to. Dr. D’Angelo’s ascent marks the end of an era defined by unparalleled expansion under the leadership of Michael Dowling, the renowned healthcare figure whose impactful 24-year tenure transformed the New Hyde Park, N.Y.-based system. Under Mr. Dowling, Northwell Health evolved into a vast, integrated enterprise encompassing 28 hospitals, more than 1,000 outpatient facilities, a robust research division, a prestigious medical school, and a massive workforce exceeding 104,000 employees spanning the geography of both New York and Connecticut.
The story of Dr. D’Angelo’s professional life at Northwell is a compelling narrative of a clinician turned executive, beginning not with aspirations for a boardroom position, but rather amidst the demanding and often chaotic environment of emergency departments. His unique path, progressing from a frontline physician to an operational leader and now to the top post as system CEO, offers insightful commentary on both the man himself and the organizational culture of Northwell Health. Dr. D’Angelo is candid about his unplanned career progression. He describes his approach as inherently proactive and adaptive. This spirit of challenging the status quo, deeply rooted in his clinical background, is poised to guide Northwell’s strategy in a rapidly changing healthcare landscape.
Born in the Bronx and having grown up on Long Island from his early teenage years, Dr. D’Angelo hails from a large, working-class family, pursuing medicine driven by innate curiosity and sheer grit rather than some grand, predetermined professional plan. Following the completion of his emergency medicine residency in Pennsylvania and securing his first professional position in Massachusetts, he worked an extraordinary number of extra shifts sometimes having to provide for his growing family and to pay off the accumulating burden of student loans. This early demonstration of dedication and sacrifice is a hallmark of his enduring work ethic.
In the late 1990s, Dr. D’Angelo returned to Long Island, commencing his first attending role at Glen Cove Hospital, which was then a part of the North Shore-LIJ Health System, the precursor organization to the modern Northwell Health. During his early years, the Glen Cove emergency department garnered considerable attention within the system for dramatic, sustained improvements in both patient flow and patient experience, achieving some of the most impressive results in the country over multiple years. This success laid the foundation for his future system-wide impact. A pivotal moment in his career came when Mr. Dowling prioritized sepsis as the organization’s most critical quality initiative. Dr. D’Angelo stepped up, co-leading Northwell’s comprehensive response in partnership with the esteemed Institute for Healthcare Improvement. This concentrated effort resulted in cutting the system-wide mortality rate from sepsis in half within just three years and earned the organization a highly coveted John M. Eisenberg Patient Safety and Quality Award in 2015 for the remarkable progress achieved.
The success of the sepsis project proved transformative, reinforcing the central theme of constant reinvention that has defined his career at Northwell. Despite his deep ties to the system. This ability to shift focus and scale his expertise allowed him to transition seamlessly into various leadership roles. He joined Northwell’s inaugural physician leadership development program and was soon after selected to lead emergency medicine across the entire health system. From this point, the scope and complexity of his responsibilities continuously expanded, encompassing everything from leading emergency medicine and system-wide quality projects to technology rollouts and, eventually, overseeing Northwell’s largest regional market.
Many of these leadership roles came rapidly, often thrust upon him during periods of intense organizational stress or public crisis. Most notably, during the catastrophic initial wave of the COVID-19 pandemic that struck New York, Dr. D’Angelo was immediately tapped to manage operations across the entire health system. The insights gained during this crisis response ultimately led to a permanent structural change within Northwell. Dr. D’Angelo recalls the moment Mr. Dowling approached him: This charge became the blueprint for Integrated Operations, a new division strategically built to hardwire the swift agility and coordinated response capability demonstrated during the crisis into the health system’s everyday operating practice. This complex operational role broadened Dr. D’Angelo’s critical system-wide view, offering him firsthand experience in how the realities of clinical care intersect and sometimes clash with operational execution. This experience served as the final preparation that primed him to later lead Northwell’s Central Region, an immense market encompassing six hospitals, 24,000 dedicated employees, and 300 diverse outpatient sites.
In May, the Northwell board formally announced that Dr. D’Angelo would succeed Mr. Dowling, initiating a structured, months-long transition process. Mr. Dowling, who assumed the position of president and CEO of the then North Shore-Long Island Jewish Health System in late 2001, transitions now to CEO emeritus. In this new capacity, he will remain active, continuing to advance critical public health initiatives while devoting time to teaching and writing. During his historic leadership, Northwell grew through more than 20 significant mergers, firmly establishing itself as New York’s largest private employer and providing essential healthcare to over 2 million people each year.
Reflecting on his path to the top executive role, Dr. D’Angelo reiterates that the CEO position was never his goal. Yet, as careers often do, his defied those earlier plans. Today, his approach to the CEO job is uniquely defined by a powerful blend of clinical experience, high-level operational oversight, and crisis-tested leadership. This foundation ensures that the patient’s perspective remains central to all strategic decision-making.
The leadership change takes place during a period characterized by immense opportunity but also rapidly increasing complexity across the healthcare sector. Northwell recently finalized the largest merger in its history, successfully integrating Nuvance Health’s seven hospitals located across the Hudson Valley region of New York and western Connecticut. Dr. D’Angelo acknowledges the immediate criticality of this undertaking. He explains that the integration effort inherently compels the organization. This complex integration must be navigated while simultaneously maintaining Northwell’s reputation for excellence and fiscal responsibility.
Concurrently with the Nuvance merger, Northwell Health is embarking on one of the most substantial electronic health record (EHR) conversions seen in the industry to date. Its comprehensive three-wave transition to the Epic system will ultimately necessitate the training of over 100,000 users across all hospitals and outpatient sites. The first major go-live phase is strategically scheduled to occur just one month following Dr. D’Angelo’s official transition to the CEO position, underscoring the immediate operational demands he faces. Beyond these immediate, near-term priorities lies the overarching and more abstract goal of transforming the delivery of care itself. Like every major health system nationwide, Northwell is under mounting pressure from multiple external factors, including pervasive workforce shortages, escalating operational costs, dynamic shifts in payer-provider relationships, and evolving patient expectations. However, Dr. D’Angelo views these significant headwinds not as insurmountable barriers to the system’s growth, but rather as powerful catalysts for driving necessary innovation.
One particular area that he specifically highlights for increased focus is Northwell’s strategy concerning the rapidly growing aging population. With approximately 11,000 Americans reaching the age of 65 every single day, a demographic trend compounded by the fact that many are simultaneously retiring from healthcare jobs themselves, he argues forcefully that maintaining the status quo in care delivery will prove completely inadequate. He explains the necessity of radical change. This forward-looking perspective indicates a strategic pivot toward proactive, community-based, and technologically supported health maintenance.
Despite all the formidable operational and strategic complexity lying ahead, Dr. D’Angelo repeatedly insists that it is the deeply ingrained culture of Northwell that will remain its most crucial and defining strength. He speaks directly to the inherent difficulty of working in healthcare. Acknowledging the widespread issue of healthcare worker fatigue, he offers a powerful cultural counterpoint. This cultural focus on a shared mission provides an essential resilience against burnout and operational stress.
Dr. D’Angelo further notes that a crucial part of his focus involves consistently taking care of the people who, in turn, take care of the patients. This commitment spans from emphasizing employee health and overall well-being to providing extensive educational opportunities and ensuring room for professional growth and career advancement within the system. Northwell’s highly regarded Center for Learning and Innovation, which Mr. Dowling established in 2001, was, in many ways, ahead of its time. It serves as the hub for Northwell’s physician leadership institute, high-potential development programs, patient safety institute, and a dozen other specialized cohorts and upskilling programs designed for its large employee base.
Dr. D’Angelo’s constant, internal striving for personal and professional improvement extends beyond the workplace. Eight years ago, amid the escalating demands of his growing executive responsibilities, Dr. D’Angelo undertook a complete overhaul of his personal health. He successfully lost 60 pounds, was able to discontinue various medications, and committed himself to achieving a greater personal and professional balance. He now speaks openly and often about the critical need for healthcare workers including those at the executive level to actively prioritize their own well-being. This transparent advocacy for self-care from the very top leadership position reinforces the system’s commitment to its workforce.
As Dr. D’Angelo officially succeeds the legendary Mr. Dowling, he inherits a colossal system with enormous operational scale, a strong track record of financial performance, and ambitious plans for future growth. Simultaneously, he assumes leadership at a nationally turbulent time for the entire healthcare industry, which is being fundamentally reshaped by financial pressures, unprecedented workforce challenges, and relentless technological disruption. His central wager and Northwell’s strategic hypothesis is that the unique combination of his deep operational knowledge, the continuity of the system’s strong culture, and a genuine eagerness to embrace innovation and evolve will collectively position Northwell Health to not merely survive, but truly thrive through the coming period of transformation. Colleagues and peers consistently describe Dr. D’Angelo as an exceptionally authentic and servant-minded leader a professional who consistently leads with humility, unwavering clarity, and an essential team-first mindset. He attributes these core leadership qualities to both his personal upbringing and the invaluable, formative years he spent working directly at the patient’s bedside. His perspective remains grounded. This philosophy promises a new era of leadership at Northwell Health that is both clinically informed and operationally brilliant, always with the patient at the forefront.
(Hero image credit: Northwell Health)
